DAKOTA — Dealing with intense scrutiny since the death of a farmer and road commissioner, Tri-District Ambulance Service concedes that ambulance runs to this town are taking nearly four minutes longer than in 2012.

For the 14 runs this year, crews have taken an average 11 minutes from the time they receive a call until they arrive at the scene of a fire, heart attack or other emergency. In 2013, it took them 8 minutes and 20 seconds; in 2012, 7 minutes and 8 seconds.

“I’m getting a little scared,” said Kathy Clay, who lives three doors from where Joshua Langholf, 24, died April 6.

A Tri-District Ambulance crew responding to the call had to phone a 911 dispatcher for directions to his house because a GPS device in the ambulance couldn’t get a signal. The crew relied on a cellphone GPS and arrived at Langholf’s home — a 5-mile drive — 22 minutes after the initial call to 911 was placed.

Clay and her husband rushed from Freeport when they heard something that had happened at Langholf’s farm, beating the ambulance there.

She isn’t the only one taking a close look at Tri-District Ambulance’s response times. Other Rock River Valley emergency responders are paying attention, too.

Fire departments in Rockford and Freeport, armed with full-time staff and their own ambulances and emergency response vehicles, have some of the shortest response times in the region.

Rural fire districts must take into account larger service territories, poorer road conditions, and residences and farms without posted addresses. Knowledge of GPS equipment and mapping is important and requires constant updating.

“You wouldn’t set out and go to Peoria unless you knew approximately where it was,” said Paul Davis, a member of the Illinois State Ambulance Association and EMS chief for Quincy-based Adams County Ambulance.

“You have to have the basic knowledge of where you are in your response area. You have to know the best roads. It boils down to a personal responsibility to know where you’re going.”

Adams County Ambulance covers 970 square miles. The company rotates its crews so each is familiar with the terrain. Freeport-based Star Ambulance staffs the six employees working out of Tri-District. They work 24-hour shifts, then get 48 hours off.

Davis said Adams County Ambulance responds to about 7,000 calls a year. The overall average for calls is 7 minutes. Runs within the city of Quincy average 5.5 minutes, and the rural runs average 8 minutes. Runs tend to approach 10 minutes during the winter.

Fire officials say the city’s seven ambulances respond to about 60 calls a day, and a private ambulance company is called in once daily because the city’s fleet is busy.

From January to March, the average ambulance travel time in Rockford was 7:56 for the city and private runs compared with 8:47 for the same period in 2013.

Tri-District is a taxpayer-supported entity that serves a 100-square-mile area including Dakota, Rock City and Davis from its 108 Main St. office in Rock City.

Tri-District and Star officials emphasize that their 2014 average response times are based on less than four months of data, and response times will decrease by the year’s end.

However, “we all have families and children or grandchildren who live in this district,” said Frederick Kuhlmeier, who represents Rock City on the Tri-District board, which is demanding better service since Langholf’s death. “We do take the response time and the performance of this system very seriously.”

The Dakota Fire Protection District board, which pays Tri-District for ambulance services, will discuss how to address the company’s lagging response times when board members huddle at 7 p.m. Wednesday for the board meeting at 118 E. Main St.

Tri-District officials say the company’s response time to Rock City averages 6:26 this year, compared with 6:30 in 2013 and 6:06 in 2012.

The company’s 2014 average response time has been 8:49, compared with 9:31 in 2013 and 8:15 in 2012.